Boom in marriage licenses tracked to immigration rule

Tracking a nationwide boom, marriage licenses to undocumented immigrants are up by more than 20 percent this year in Dallas County, officials say.

Thousands of undocumented immigrants are trying to beat an April 30 deadline to apply for legal status under a provision of an immigration law that Congress passed late last year.

One way undocumented immigrants can qualify for the provision is to marry a U.S. citizen or legal immigrant.

"There really is a big increase here,'' said Donna Sherbet, recording manager at the county clerk's office, told The Dallas Morning News in today's editions.

As of Friday morning, 1,258 licenses had been issued at the downtown office during March. That compares with 860 for all of March last year and 967 for March 1999.

Fran Robbins, a clerk in the Potter County clerk's office, said only one more marriage license was issued this February than February last year.

March marriage licenses totaled 155 this year and 138 for March last year, she said.

"I don't think January, February and March were any different than last year, Robbins said.

Kathy McDonald, official public records supervisor for Randall County, said two people from Mexico without citizenship papers applied for marriage licenses in March.

"That's higher actually,'' McDonald said. "Maybe one a year, not two a month. We don't get many.''

The Legal Immigration and Family Equity Act of 2000 temporarily revives a section of U.S. immigration law, known as 245(i), that allows certain qualified immigrants to complete the process of becoming legal without having to leave the United States.

They can do so by having a qualified relative or employer apply for them. But they are required to pay a $1,000 penalty fee, prove they have been living in the United States since Dec. 21 and apply by April 30.

Spouses of U.S. citizens and legal immigrants are among those who apply. Officials say that's one of the reasons for the recent increase in marriages.

There was a similar rush in late 1997 and early 1998 when the original 245(i) provision expired.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service will try to ferret out any fraudulent marriages, Ligon said. Anyone who enters into a fraudulent marriage to gain an immigration benefit is subject to criminal prosecution, he said.

Fernando Dubove, a Dallas attorney who specializes in immigration law, said he has seen a substantial number of people asking whether they could benefit from getting married before April 30.

"The first thing I tell them is, 'Don't get married just for your papers.' That is one sure way to get in trouble with the INS. I believe that in many cases, INS officials in Dallas start with the assumption that most marriages involving immigrants are fraudulent, and you really have to prove that it is a genuine marriage,'' Dubove said.

"For the most part, what I'm seeing are couples who have been together for a long time, often there are already children from the relationship, who are deciding that because of the law, it is a good time to get married,'' Dubove said.

Undocumented workers who return home after staying illegally in the United States for at least six months can be barred from re-entry for three years. If they stayed in the United States for up to a year, they can be prohibited from returning for up to 10 years.